I couldn’t start a new book after finishing these… but was it worth it?
Ah, the book hangover. That feeling of emptiness left in the wake of a truly excellent reading experience, which sometimes lingers for days and makes starting a new book feel next to impossible.
After a sleepless night with my latest “can’t put it down” read, I’ve been living in that feeling. I’m mad at myself for reading so quickly, and can’t seem to get into a new book without wishing it could just keep that previous reading experience going.
So as I languish for a few more days waiting to find bookish love again, I’ve been thinking about those other titles that left me in a similar state of longing for the reading experience that got away.
This is both a recommendation post and a warning — these books are so good, they might put you off other reads for a little while.
Readers, BEWARE!
1. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
I couldn’t start this list without citing the book that’s to blame for my current bookish hangover.
Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis is a well-hyped title you’ve likely seen making the rounds and I’m here to say, it’s for good reason. This is an adorable fake-dating romance set at a University, where the protagonist’s scientific and academic goals take center stage.
In retrospect, I wish I’d slowed down and savored this book a bit more. I started it one night at bedtime and, the next night, stayed up to an unprecedented time of 11:30pm to finish reading. My bedtime is sacred. A good book only breaks it once in a blue moon. It is, perhaps, not surprising that I can’t seem to find my way to any other book just yet.
If you like a romance with a good bit of banter and a heavy dash of spice, this one’s for you. Just don’t expect to rebound to the book next door too soon afterwards.
2. Well Met by Jen DeLuca
I still remember the first time I read the synopsis for this book, and realized that somehow, all along, I’d been waiting for Well Met. I mean… a rom com set at a local Renaissance Festival? Exactly the thing I didn’t know I needed.
The moment I got my hands on this book, I knew I’d do nothing but read it until I finished. Yet another member of the “got Amanda to ditch bedtime” club, this book is a fantastic enemies-to-lovers delight complete with fake — or is it — flirting for the benefit of the Ren Fest going crowds.
All other books were forgotten as I read this one, and it took a while to warm up to the idea of reading anything not set at a Renaissance Festival afterward.
Thankfully, Well Met at least has a sequel (and soon-to-be third installment) to keep you warm at night if you can’t imagine bringing another book to bed with you soon after finishing.
3. How Not to Fall in Love by Jacqueline Firkins
I read a digital review copy of this one over the summer and reader, I’m still thinking about it. It comes out in December of this year. I remember this because I can’t wait to throw it at people. Should you preorder it? Yes, you should.
How Not to Fall In Love features the trope I love the most, friends to lovers, and has a nice dash of LARPing thrown in. Let’s not forget a leading lady who isn’t sure she believes in love and a nice dose of LARPing in the mix. Nerds in love. It gets me every time.
This is a slow simmer with just a hint of steam in all the right places. I loved it so much I had no choice but to make my way to a book with a similar trope right after finishing, as some solace for not getting to live inside the first-read experience of this one anymore.
4. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Ah, yes. The book I read immediately after the aforementioned friends-to-lovers book.
People We Meet on Vacation takes friends-to-lovers on vacation with the premise that our leading couple have taken an annual trip together every year since college. Or at least, they used to, before That Thing happened. I liked this book’s grown up look at the complications that arise when close friends catch feelings and aren’t sure they’re similar enough to make it work.
This also fits the bill of what I’ve learned is called grumpy/sunshine in romance, which I am apparently also a sucker for.
This book and I spent a lovely weekend together in a Getaway cabin and I thought about it the whole drive back home. And the day after that. And, well… you get the idea.
Read At Your Own Risk
Book hangovers are, of course, not just reserved for romance novels. For whatever reason, this genre just tends to produce them most frequently for me personally… maybe because I tend to get a little too invested in the central relationships and just how they’ll arrive at the genre-promised Happily Ever After.
Regardless, reader, you have been warned! These four phenomenal books are worth a read, but they may leave you struggling to move on.
I’m curious to know — what books have you loved so much that moving on to a new story was difficult?
Your Book Friend 
haha, I know the book hangover very well, I could never dive into my next book straight away. I also know that feeling that I wish I’d read more slowly and savoured the book more, but these tend to be the ones that I read again.
Yes, the reread can be great for the ones we read too quickly! I know some people who finish a book and just start it over again. I like to wait a little while so I can forget some details and it will feel a little fresh again 🙂
I didn’t know that book hangovers were a thing until now but I totally get it. I suppose it’s like that feeling when you get to the end of a really good TV series.
These sound like some fantastic books. x
Yes! I get that with TV series sometimes, too! Thanks for reading 🙂
Ooh I have been looking for books that I can not put down. I have been wanting to read all of these, so maybe I’ll pick them up this weekend. Thanks for sharing.
Yay! Hope you love them as much as I did!
Been a while since I have had a good book hangover, I have been mostly reading cozy mysteries so I am definitely going to check out some of the book you have mentioned in hope of finding that book hangover.
Fingers crossed one of them hits for you! I just recently read my first-ever cozy mystery and it was a nice change of pace 🙂
All of these sound really interesting indeed. I thought initially that book hangover is when a book has a horrible twist at the end, like a main character dying or something. That’s usually when I find myself thinking about a book for days after I finish it but it usually makes me like a book less. This happened with Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult (not least because it was her second book I read in which the main character died at the end). Also when an ending is a bit confusing, like with Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, it leaves me with what I would call book hangover. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced your kind of book hangover. Then again, I’m a terribly slow reader.
I’ve not heard of any of these, I will check them out. But yes I can identify with the book hangover!
Oh, you’ve described it so well. I definitely get the book hangover. Great book recommendations xxx
I am going to check out How not to Fall, as a book that has been living in your mind for nearly a year is one I have to read!
Book hangover – that’s a new phrase for me. I like it, very apt. But what is LARPing in one of your reviews. I’m intrigued #BookwormsMonthly
LARP stands for Live Action Roleplaying. Like dungeons and dragons but in costume and more fully acted out!
Ah we came across some people doing something like that many years ago when we visited Chislehurst Caves
I think I’m unusual because, no matter how much I enjoy a book, I still go straight on to my next one! I’ve been known to literally put one down and pick up the next. But the more I love a book the faster I read and I am familiar with that feeling of ‘I wish I hadn’t read that so quickly!’.
I’m not very into romance books (I only usually read a couple a year), so I don’t know any of these books, but I can see why you enjoyed them.
#bookwormsmonthly